Why Quality Systems Shares Plunged

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Health-care-information-systems provider Quality Systems (NAS: QSII) is in need of an optimistic transfusion, falling as much as 10% this morning, after offering preliminary second-quarter and full-year earnings guidance.

So what: Not 24 hours after I tell you to get Quality Systems on your watchlist does it make me look like a fool (and not in the good way!). The company's second-quarter guidance that it would earn between $0.24 and $0.27 on revenue of $107 million-$111 million is well-short of Wall Street's expectations for a profit of $0.38 on sales of $116.1 million. For the full year, Quality Systems is anticipating revenues to range between $428 million-$431 million, with EPS of $1.27-$1.30. The current consensus estimate is for a profit of $1.41 on $437 million in sales. Quality Systems cited delays in product purchases as the reason for the shortfall.

Now what: Relax! There's a bright side to this news. In addition to shares becoming even cheaper than they already were, Quality Systems issued its 2013 guidance and it looks fantastic! Revenue is expected to grow by 20%-24%, which would imply $513 million-$534 million using the high/low of its fiscal 2012 preliminary guidance. Earnings growth is expected to be even more robust with forecasted growth of 20%-25%, implying $1.52-$1.63 in EPS. Although this would put EPS below Wall Street's expectations for 2013, the company's revenue expectations are significantly higher than the current consensus. This is a high-growth company, in a high-demand field, trading below 20 times forward earnings and with a debt-free balance sheet. It looks like it has a good shot to rebound off of these lows.

Craving more input? Start by adding Quality Systems to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Quality Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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